HIGH SCHOOL SALVAGES FALL JOURNALISM CLASS

San Dieguito 
A La Costa Canyon High School journalism class that was on the chopping block because of low enrollment will be back this fall after all, but with a new twist.

The class will continue, but as a two-semester pilot program that will combine it with a digital media class. Administrators said the revamped format will help prepare future journalists entering a field that demands new skills.

Students who run the school newspaper had complained to trustees in the San Dieguito Union High School District that the school paper probably could not survive if it were produced by an after-school club instead of a class.

Principal Kyle Ruggles said last month that he supported the paper, but could not justify keeping the class because only 26 students had signed up for it next semester. Enrollment for most classes on that campus is in the high 30s to low 40s.

Megan Mineiro, editor-in-chief of MavLife, the school paper and website, said at the time that she suspected the cancellation had something to do with a story criticizing the school’s decision to replace Athletic Director Kari DiGiulio with Assistant Principal Doug Kamon.

Torrie Norton, the district’s associate superintendent of human resources, said the new pilot program didn’t result from the students’ allegations. She said administrators simply wanted to find a way to keep the journalism class.

Norton said she, Superintendent Rick Schmitt and Michael Grove, associate superintendent of educational services, worked on the plan to keep the journalism class alive.

Megan said she thinks the district created the class in part because of pressure from students who wanted it. “It took a lot of time and energy, and if it weren’t for us, the class would have been canceled,” she said.